BMW And Daimler To Combine Mobility Services

BMW and Daimler will join forces and combine all of their mobility services.

For over a year, speculation has been rife that the two automakers would merge their car sharing services Car2Go and DriveNow. This deal not only involves these services being combined but also a range of other mobility services operated by BMW and Daimler.

BMW and Daimler will partner on multimodel and on-demand mobility with moovel and ReachNow while also combining ride-hailing services mytaxi, Chauffeur Prive, Clever Taxi, and Beat. ParkNow and Parkmobile Group/Parkmobile LLC are being combined too, as are ChargeNow and Digital Charging Solutions.

The deal is still subject to examination and approval by the responsible competition authorities. Once the partnership gets the green light, BMW and Daimler will each hold a 50 per cent stake in the joint-venture model.

“The BMW Group is shaping future mobility – and striking out in new directions to do so. Our Strategy NUMBER ONE > NEXT provides the BMW Group with a roadmap to a digital and emission-free future,” said chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Harald Kruger.

“Combining our mobility services as planned will create a unique digital ecosystem. This alliance will make it easier for our customers to discover the emission-free mobility of the future. We remain competitors when it comes to the best premium vehicles. The planned merger of our mobility services will pool our resources and sends a strong signal to our new competitors.”

Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Dieter Zetsche added to this by saying the partnership will help the firm transform from an automobile manufacturer to a provider of mobility services.

“As pioneers in automotive engineering, we will not leave the task of shaping future urban mobility to others. There will be more people than ever before without a car who will still want to be extremely mobile. We want to combine our expertise and experience to develop a unique, sustainable ecosystem for urban mobility.”